Senate to Vote on SE School District Tuesday

Senate Passage Likely; Real Fight Looms in House

BATON ROUGE — Bills to create the new Southeast Baton Rouge Community School District cleared two Senate committees this week and are now pending on the floor of the State Senate.

Sen. Bodi White (R-Central), the lead author, said the bills could come up as soon as Tuesday.  SB199, a constitutional amendment, would take 26 votes, a 2/3rds majority in the Senate, but passage there seems likely.

Last year, the legislation fell four votes short of the 70 votes needed in the House, and the House is again where opponents plan to make their stand.  If approved in the House, the constitutional amendment would go to the electorate for a statewide vote next year.

On Wednesday, Norman Browning, president of Local Schools for Local Children, criticized the East Baton Rouge School Board for spending $70,000 to hire two lobbyists to fight White’s bills.